Las Vegas — Heavyweight Josh Hokit hasn’t been a UFC fighter for more than a day, and already he’s stirring up controversy.
In fact, he did that immediately following his win on the Contender Series this week. While most fighters would simply smile for the camera, say all the right things, and share their excitement at cracking the biggest MMA promotion on the planet, Hokit (6-0) courted controversy by both criticizing his division, and spouting what could be politely called xenophobic remarks.
Asked about when he might make his debut for the UFC, the former Bellator heavyweight suggested that “I’m ready to fight next week,” pointing out that the UFC “gave that Russian guy six days notice. Is a Russian better than an American? That’s how I look at it. So I’m ready to go five days notice. I’m ready to fight next week.”
“That Russian guy” would be Baisangur Susurkaev, and it’s worth noting that his debut came on just four day’s notice. Hokit, as a result, will have to up his timetable a bit. Regardless, the undefeated heavyweight didn’t stop there.
Giving his thoughts on the rest of the UFC’s heavyweight division, Hokit claimed that “a lot of them are overweight fat guys. Their fights are boring, they don’t even speak English. I feel like that should be a criteria. You speak English, then you could be in the UFC. That’s just how I would run it.”
Hokit may be doing a bit, as he certainly appeared to be in his on-air, post-fight interview where he claimed to have “left the liberal, snowflake NFL to do a real man’s sport.” Still, he’s in dangerous territory here: Dana White has famously allowed his fighters carte blanche to say what they please as a supporter of free speech, but that hasn’t always worked out so well for the fighter themselves.
“I left the liberal, snowflake NFL to do a real man’s sport in a real man’s promotion.” 😂
– Josh Hokit after signing a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series pic.twitter.com/U5MoVkQjRs
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) August 20, 2025
Controversial remarks or no, Josh Hokit has big plans for his UFC run. “It’s a dream come true, but I won’t be satisfied until I get that UFC gold,” he stated following his victory over Guilherme Uriel.
“I see myself getting maybe a title shot within two years. How many guys are on the roster? There’s like 15 heavyweights now, so a few wins put me to the top.”
Watch the full Dana White’s Contender Series 2025 Week 2 post-fight appearance by Josh Hokit above.
